Synchronization
by Yami No Amburrrr
Summary: The Numbers have escaped from his world and are being collected by the human Hunters. His mission could not be more clear: retrieve the Numbers and survive at all costs. But the human world has its ways of surprising its foreign visitors...
1. Night of the Hunter

Hello everyone...it's been awhile huh? I really haven't written in quite a bit, so if this is a little rusty, I apologize. However, while I was on a writing Hiatus I feel in love with the newest Yu-Gi-Oh! series. I LOVE ZEXAL RIGHT NOW! I am absolutely hooked on this series - that's where this fanfic came from really.

I have read some of the ZeXal fanfics on here and was a bit disappointed in the fact that there were so few with real stories behind them. Most were oneshots, which I am not a huge fan of because of how short they are. Also, none of them really seem to stick to the story of ZeXal - the backstory anyways - which is sad because that is one of the things that I love most about the show. The mysterious backstory - what exactly is Astral's mission? What do Dr. Faker and Tron want to do with the Numbers? What made Dr. Faker attack the Astral World? - etc. Please note that this is slightly out of the anime's context in the sense that Astral is **completely visible** to all humans, he is **not** attached to Yuuma and that he and Kaito have more of a history that what is shown in the anime - but their opinions of each other are very much the same.

I hope everyone enjoys this...I have somewhat of an idea in my head of how to expand this, but if anyone has any ideas for me, feel free to leave them in reviews or pms ^^

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><p><strong>NIGHT OF THE HUNTER:<strong>

The city of Heartland never truly slept. Even in the dead of night its streets were fully illuminated, buildings stood tall and bright decorated with AR vision advertisements; cars, buses and monorails continued full operation, even as most of the city's inhabitants were fast asleep. There was the occasional sound of an Obot picking up trash, or the long hoot of an owl in the distance, making the city seemingly empty. However, not all the people of Heartland were resting. For some, the day's events had just begun, for Heartland was a city that never truly slept.

Among the buildings, stood the tallest and most illuminated of all – the Heartland tower. It was a winding structure that breached the heavens with the largest pink heart that anyone had ever seen. People thought it was just a decoration, but in reality, the heart held the chambers of the most well-kept and secured secret in all of Heartland. The walls surrounding the heart were a series of one-way mirrors that allowed those inside to peer out over most of the city completely unnoticed. It was there was one young man stood, starring out the window with an expression displaying the utmost seriousness. Behind him, across the dark star spotted carpet was a single bed where a smaller blue haired boy slept soundly. Next to the bed was a tiny nightstand on which rested a small, untouched mug of hot chocolate, slowly cooling off. The young man looked back at the sleeping face of his little brother with a longing expression.

"Haruto…I will definitely save you." He spoke softly so as not to disturb the sleeping boy. Satisfied, he returned his gaze to the window. '_Speaking __of __which,_ _I__'__m __sure__ he__ won__'__t__ be__ letting __my __evening __off __go __to __waste.__'_ He thought bitterly, eyes narrowing in disgust. He'd have given anything to be out on the hunt tonight, but when Haruto had collapsed, he had immediately rushed to his side. Thankfully, he'd already collected a few Numbers before being forced to call off the hunt. Unfortunately, the Original didn't have such restrictions. The only way to stop him was to get rid of him completely, which Kaito planned to do as soon as he could. He hadn't told Mr. Heartland or Dr. Faker about his discovery, even though they had asked him to find the Original countless times. His pride refused to hand off the Original's defeat to anyone else. In his mind's eye he could see the slender figure, the glowing blue skin; the mismatched eyes that held intelligence and bravery, but could flicker with fear and worry at any moment. He saw the firm fingers grasp cards, calling attacks with strength and conviction, skilfully evading attacks with heightened magic and trap combos that left even Kaito speechless; defeating player after player with ease. In the eyes of the opponents, Kaito had seen the same look of fear cross their eyes when the Original played his final card as when he took their lives from them with a flick of the wrist. All Kaito had seen of him, he'd liked. He wanted to face the Original. He would be the one to take him down; stealing all his numbers and watch him fade from this world.

_'__Astral__…__you__'__re__ mine.__'_

./././././././././././.

Unbeknownst to the city of Heartland, there was a wave of energy trapped within the city's bounds. The energy had come from a foreign world that most people would dismiss as a figment of imagination. The energy was being trapped within a commonly played game of Duel Monsters in the form of 99 extremely rare and powerful monster cards known only as Numbers. When a duelist came in physical contact with such a card, they succumbed to the deepest and darkest pieces of their souls until it consumed their very beings. The only way to return them to normal would be to remove the card from their possession immediately.

However easy this may seem, the task was much more difficult to pull off. The Numbers gave the duelist power, and power is not easily relinquished. Numbers cards could only be defeated in a duel by opposing Numbers cards. The duelist's extraordinary new abilities would have to be topped before the Numbers could be taken. And not many duelists held the strength of spirit or of skill to defeat and properly manage the Numbers cards.

This led to the quest for power, the Numbers hunt. Duelists with Numbers would challenge each other, beating their Numbers cards in each duel, and collecting an army of Numbers. Some would collect and sell for profit, others for the power that made them virtually invincible. Out of the many Number hunting duelists, there was only one who hunted them because his life depended on it.

Said Hunter was perched on top of a tall building in the dead of night, hiding in the shadows in between the lights; he stood tall and slender, still as a statue. Although he despised clothing, he wore tight fitting black from head to toe - including gloves and a mask that revealed only a pair of mismatched eyes that glowed silver and gold. It was necessary only to camouflage his ordinarily brightly colored skin with the night. He had a duel disk on his left arm, his deck put in place as he scanned the streets for any sign of Numbers holders. It had been fairly quiet on the streets that evening.

_'I__ wonder...was__ it__ you,__Kaito,__who __caused__ this__ silence?'_ He wondered, fighting back a shiver at the thought of the powerful Duelist. If that were indeed the case, the best option for him would be to look in another area of the city – one that had not already been scavenged for Numbers. Finding his memories depended on his ability to hunt down all of the Numbers. He was about to leave when he felt a familiar tinge of darkness nearby.

'_Numbers!'_He thought almost excitedly. And from what he could tell, the Number holder was not too far away. He had to find this source immediately. Focusing on his instincts, knowing they would lead him to the task at hand, he lept headfirst off the building; a shadow flying in the night. He only had one thought on his mind as he flew.

_'I'll win.'_

././././././././././.

A man laughed wickedly, walking through the alleyways of the city. He'd just finished a duel, and had once again been victorious thanks to the card he had. He held it in his hand, admiring the black-bordered card complete with a picture and description of the Level 6 monster whose name was written in gold print along the header. Thanks to this Numbers card, he would never lose another duel again! He smirked at the card, before placing it on the top of his deck in his pants pocket. The power, the confidence, everything about this card was incredible – and the fact that there were 99 of them in total was amazing. If he could control all of them…he'd be truly invincible. Unfortunately, all of his victims thus far had not had any Numbers for him to take. He hoped that this evening he'd encounter another Number. He was eager to see the power of those Numbers, to shoot it down hard with his own Number, and lastly to add it to his deck once he was victorious.

The man had been so wrapped up in his thoughts that he didn't notice a figure dressed in black drop down before he reached the next corner of the alley.

"Found you." Came the voice of the figure before him. The man's eyes shot up to meet a pair of mismatched eyes starring intently at him. The man quickly sized the smaller person up – he seemed to be a young man, a teenager perhaps. The man's eyes laid rest on the oddly shaped deep blue duel disk on his left arm. _'__A__ duelist__ eh?__'_ He thought. He raised an eyebrow in curiosity.

"You were looking for me?"

"That is correct. I want to duel you for your Numbers." The boy replied. The man's eyes brightened and his smirk widened.

"You know of the existence of the Numbers…could it be that you are a Numbers holder yourself?" The man asked, hoping that his guess was right. The boy closed his eyes, drawing a single card from his deck and showing it to the man – proof that he indeed had a Numbers card.

"In this duel, we will each bet all of our Numbers. The winner gets the loser's Numbers." He declared confidently. The man's grin spread from ear to ear, wickedly starring down the boy with eyes that glowed purple – a glowing number appeared on his forehead.

"Fine then! I'll crush you and take your Numbers as my own!" He cried out in excitement. As the man set his duel disk, the Numbers hunter did the same, preparing for a duel that he knew would be challenging, but there was no other option but victory – it would be the end of him if he ever lost. The duel was set, and his body lit up as it always did, allowing the man a glimpse of his true nature. His body eradiated light naturally, but in duels it became more intense – he wasn't sure why exactly – and even his black clothing was not enough to conceal it all. A blue-white light seeped from his skin and surrounded his entire body. The reaction of the man was not unlike other opponents – his eyes widened in obvious surprise upon discovery that his opponent was not what he had appeared to be.

"What…what are you?" He asked in shock. The mismatched eyes looked at the man with a new intensity and focus.

"I am the Original."

././././././././././.

13-year-old Tsukumo Yuuma let out a frustrated cry as he wandered the same dimly lit streets of Heartland for what seemed to be the 50th time this evening. The section of the city he had wandered had been surprisingly empty and quiet. Yuuma had hoped that maybe there would be some late night duelists out tonight – he had heard rumors of plenty of hardcore duels that went on after dark – but so far he'd only been disappointed by the lack of people on the streets. He wouldn't become the Dueling World Champion if he didn't get any practice! Facing different types of opponents was key. Sure, he had his friends at school, but if he wanted to be the real champion, he needed to defeat duelists of all ages. He would definitely do _kattobingu_ with anyone and everyone who challenged him!

As much as Yuuma loved to duel, his sister, who was his guardian in his parent's absence, was against the notion of dueling and had banned him from doing so on any circumstances. If only his older sister were to actually give him permission to duel, then he would have no need to sneak out at night. Though, if Akari knew that he was dueling anyway, she'd be incredibly mad. Yuuma gulped at the thought – his sister was nice…when she was happy. Speaking of his sister, he had to get home before she found out he snuck out! Newly motivated, he quickly rounded another corner, hoping this route would lead him to a more familiar area. The alley was dark and seemed to end in another corner, from what he could see. He was about halfway down the alleyway when an anguished cry came from ahead. Yuuma froze in shock. Was someone in trouble? He ran towards the next corner where he'd heard the scream, rounding it quickly.

"Oi, are you –" Yuuma began, before stopping abruptly at the scene before him.

He established immediately that there were two people there; one was an apparently unconscious middle-aged man wearing a duel disk still in active position and had some Duel Monsters cards in his right hand; indicating that a duel had been recently played – but Yuuma's stunned silence was caused by the second figure. Sizing the person up, Yuuma guessed they were a little bit taller than him; figure hugging black clothing outlining a slender body, including a full face mask covering their entire head, black gloves and what appeared to be black socks. A soft blue glow was outlining the person's body, making it stand out even more against the semi-lit alley walls; their arm was outstretched downward towards the other man, hand open and facing him.

Just when Yuuma had established the scene, a small glowing card flew from the man's chest and into the other's outstretched hand. The figure snatched it out of the air, holding it to their face to see it better. As they did so, the lights around their body began to withdraw, pulling themselves inward until there were none remaining anywhere. Yuuma starred in awe at the entire scene. It was all so surreal…such an amazing product of AR vision, surely. He reached to his left ear to take off his D-Gazer…only to realize he wasn't even wearing it. He gasped in realization – this entire event had been real. His gasp was loud enough to trigger a reaction in the person, who immediately spun around to face him. This only made Yuuma gasp again at the sight of a pair of equally surprised mismatched eyes of silver and gold. They were unlike anything Yuuma had ever seen – they held depth, knowledge, strength, and mystery; all of which captivated Yuuma. How long the two starred at each other, neither really knew, but it was the mysterious figure who broke the contact first by turning away, then running towards the other end of the alley. Yuuma snapped out of the trance as soon as the other turned.

"Hey! Get back here!" He chased the figure, not about to let him or her get away without some explanations. The other ignored him, continuing to run towards the end of the alley. At the mouth of the alley, the figure took a sharp left, which Yuuma immediately followed only to skid to a halt – the figure had disappeared!

"What the…?" Yuuma looked left and right frantically, spinning all the way around him in hopes of spotting the mystery person, but all he saw were the empty streets, the various houses with darkened windows and sleeping families. Yuuma scratched his head in confusion. It was like the person had vanished into thin air. Yuuma had no doubt the other was real – he would never forget those strange eyes - but he couldn't help but wonder what kind of person he'd run into.

"Just who are you?" Yuuma wondered out loud, putting his hands in his pockets and heading off on his way home, completely unaware of the mismatched eyes watching him from one of the local rooftops.

TBC - ?

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><p>Well? What do you think? Please drop a review if you have any ideas for what I should do with this or anything ~<p> 


	2. Reflection

First off, I'm very sorry for slow updates. There's a reason for it though - when I first began to write this, it was shortly after the ending of Season 1, which meant that there was only a certain amount of backstory available and the speculations I made were not exactly accurate now that the story has progressed slightly. Tron was throwing a monkey wrench in everything.

I've decided though, since I'm a bit frustrated with how slow the backstory is progressing, that I am going to update this now. This particular chapter has reflections based off of episode 19's facts - and since Astral and Kazuma have only been further proven to have some sort of history, I figured it'd be safe to go with this.

Someone asked me in a review what sort of pairings I was thinking of for this - my answer to that is Keyshipping definitely, but I'm not sure as to others just yet. This is probably going to be mostly Astral centric though, since I am most confident with writing him instead of Yuuma. I have other stories in the works that are more Yuuma centric which I will post eventually.

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><p><strong>Reflection<strong>

A jab in the arm from his desk partner woke him from a snooze he hadn't realized he'd been taking.

"Yuuma wake up!" Hissed his friend Kotori from his right. Yuuma groaned tiredly, forcing his head out of his arms.

He was exhausted. Once he'd finally managed to find his way home, he had not been able to sleep. His mind was too preoccupied by those eyes of gold and silver. Why couldn't he get that mystery person out of his head? Why did he even care this much about some guy he'd probably never find again? He let his cheek rest on his hand, not paying attention to the lecture. He was too busy thinking of that strange person.

That mysterious figure had been expelling that strange blue light, and Yuuma didn't know how that was possible. He'd never seen that sort of thing before – could it have been a strange flashlight? But, if it were, then where'd they put it once it went out? Yuuma was sure he hadn't seen the guy pocket anything. And why put it out in the first place? It had been nighttime after all.

Then, there were those eyes. He had never seen anyone with mismatched eyes like that before. He was aware that when people wore D-Gazers, their left eye would become tinted by the colored lens, but those eyes seemed far too bright to be the product of a D-Gazer. He hadn't seen any evidence of a D-Gazer on his face at that time either. Yuuma groaned. Why was he wearing himself out thinking about this? He hadn't had much energy to do _kattobingu_ today, when that was usually never a problem. Today, there just seemed to be something missing…

Just as he was about to collapse again on his desk, the school bell chimed its little tune, signifying the end of the day's lessons. Yuuma almost tripped on his chair as he stood up from the desk, stumbling towards the exit tiredly. His unusual sluggishness did not go unnoticed by Kotori, who confronted him in the hallway.

"Yuuma! What is going on with you? You're much less energetic than usual today." Kotori said to him. _'Uh oh. Kotori is sure to be mad if she hears that I snuck out late to duel.' _Yuuma thought in panic. He forced a smile in an attempt to reassure his friend.

"I'm fine Kotori...just a bit tired. I...well, couldn't sleep..." It wasn't exactly a lie. Yuuma gave a yelp when his best friend Tetsuo gripped him in a headlock.

"Yuuma? Not sleeping? Is this the same guy who sleeps in everyday?" Tetsuo asked teasingly, then immediately released his smaller friend, regaining his composure.

"But seriously, what's going on with you? You're way less peppy than usual today."

"Hey, cut me some slack you guys! I really was up late last night..." Yuuma replied, stifling a yawn. Kotori sighed.

"Well, pay attention for a moment. We need to talk to you about something." Yuuma looked at his friend, whose face was suddenly clouded with worry.

"Kotori? What's wrong?" Yuuma asked in concern.

"You really don't know? The story has been all over the news lately!" Tetsuo exclaimed in disbelief.

"What are you talking about?" Yuuma asked, turning to Tetsuo, then back to Kotori, who had opened up her D-pad monitor. Kotori turned the screen to Yuuma, still looking worried. Yuuma raised an eyebrow in curiosity, turning his attention to the images on the screen.

"_Heartland's hospital facilities have recently been flooded by several unusual cases."_ On the screen, Yuuma could see several images of hospital patients. There were men, women and even children on the screen, but their skin seemed to sag into their skin, which seemed an unhealthy bland color, eyes open and glazed over, starring blankly into nothing; they all had pale hair that seemed dead on their stared in horror as the speaker continued.

"_The patients all arrive in a strange comatose state, seeming completely devoid of all life. They are all immediately tested for any possible causes, but in all reported cases, the doctors have been unable to find a reason for their loss of consciousness. The patients are deemed to be completely healthy, but are kept under constant surveillance for any changes in their conditions." _

"In an attempt to find out the cause, professional investigators have begun to search each patient's history for any possible connections. Their latest research shows that the only constant factor in each of the cases is that all of the patients are participants in the same activity; the famous Duel Monsters card game played by millions around the globe. Investigators are still in search of any further factors, such as why these cases have only been found in the city of Heartland…"

The program continued, but Yuuma was no longer paying attention. _'Completely healthy…comatose duelists…'_ His mind had jumped back to the mysterious person he'd seen last night. When he'd found him, there had been a man on the ground – he had been a duelist. He hadn't gotten a good look at him, but he knew that man had not been conscious. Could it be that that guy had done…?

He clenched his fists tightly rage pulsing through him. He could not believe what this story, and what he'd seen, was suggesting – a part of his mind was refusing to believe that it was true, but the overwhelming evidence saying otherwise drowned it out. _'That guy was a duelist too! Did he really…? Is that guy behind all this?'_ Yuuma closed his eyes, trembling in rage.

'And…how could a duelist do that? Dueling isn't about hurting people! It's about making a connection with others and having fun!'

"Yuuma? Are you okay?" Kotori asked in concern, snapping Yuuma out of his thoughts.

"That guy…" Yuuma said to himself. His lack of sleep forgotten, Yuuma lifted his head, determined – he had to find the mysterious person in black again. "Don't worry guys! I'm gonna get to the bottom of this!" With that said, he turned away and took off in a sprint. Kotori's and Tetsuo's eyes widened.

"Yuuma wait!" Kotori called, running after her friend.

"Damn-it Yuuma! This is exactly what we wanted to avoid!" Tetsuo cried, joining the chase, hoping that Yuuma wouldn't get into trouble with this.

XxXxXxXxXxX

Heartland was without a doubt, a large and industrial city. Many world-renowned companies held major offices and production buildings within the city. And even more industrial space was in high demand, which made the move for further construction. There were several areas being built up; formerly vacant spaces of land being bought for the sole purpose of building.

It was on one of these sites where a certain Numbers hunter had decided to stay. Still dressed in black from head to toe, Astral flew among the many metal pillars until he reached his little secluded spot near the top of the structure.

His spot was a simple arrangement of beams. There were several that rose vertically evenly spaced apart, with horizontal beams between each pair; from above, it looked like a giant square. About half the square had a large sheet of metal overhead, which he used as shelter from the occasional bout of rain or snow. The whole thing was right near the top of the structure.

It was the perfect space for him. Astral liked being high up where he could observe everything that were happening below, and below him the construction site was like an endless source of information. It fascinated him how tiny hexagon pieces could hold much larger pieces of metal together. Even the fact that human beings were able to figure out how to build to the sky was incredible - to him, it showed ambition and a quest for dominance.

'_Observation 52; To humans, larger means more power. Therefore, they constantly try to create these humongous structures bigger and higher as an assertion of their own superiority. I will have to remember that.' _He concluded to himself.

In addition, he'd noticed that even though humans wanted these built, they were not often present to oversee their own creations. They trusted robots to build it for them. As a result, the construction site had only the occasional human present to power machinery, making it the perfect place for him to rest and to explore, while remaining completely unnoticed.

And rest was something he needed. Astral landed standing on one of the beams near a corner under the metal roof, and began pulling off the heavy clothing he no longer needed - no one would see him here. Once he was completely free of the fabric bounds and had them rolled in a ball, he sighed in relief, letting himself float inches above the beam with the loss of the extra weight. Clothes were far too heavy for his liking. Humans, he had concluded, wore them to protect their seemingly more vulnerable flesh. But what confused him was just how much protection they needed – he'd seen that at times, humans wore almost nothing, exposing their arms, stomach and chest; covering between their hip bone and knees. What was the difference? He would have to keep watching to figure it out.

Astral placed the bundle of clothing down on the beam beside him as he sat down; legs crossed casually, letting his feet dangle off the side. He let his right hand rest on top of his deck, still in its slot in his duel disk – he never took off the duel disk, as that was where he stored the Numbers he had retrieved. He let his body relax as he let his mind wander. Numbers hunting could be tiresome sometimes - the man he'd caught last night had been fairly strong, but he had defeated him nonetheless; that was the most important thing. He had another Numbers card, and had gained another memory.

Speaking of his memory...he closed his eyes. The one he had gained had been, as always, a bit of a puzzle. He always had to decipher when each event happened, their significance and how they affected his mission. And this one was very strange indeed.

_The swirling stars, rotating in space around a single bright light, enclosed in a mass of purple and blue clouds were below him - the Astral World was truly a breathtaking sight. And Astral seemed to be floating away from it, looking down from space as he was pulled further and further from his home. As he spiraled upwards, he suddenly became aware of a figure hovering nearby, completely isolated. It was clear to him that this being was not from his world – he saw black hair, red bangs, darker colored skin and a pair of red eyes that stared in wonder at their surroundings. Astral approached, and the eyes stared directly at him in wonder. They were all he could make out of the human as he approached him slowly..._

And unfortunately for him, that was all he had seen. It seemed to him to be a mere fragment; he was sure there was more to this memory than what he'd seen. This memory was unusual in many ways - first and foremost, a human was in his memory. He had never gotten any memories involving humans before, and it amazed him that they were involved in his past. And the person had been in the Astral World no less!

The memory brought out many questions. How did that person enter the Astral World? Did Astral bring the human there? And if so, why had he done it? What had happened next?

The final question would have been "where was that human now?" however...Astral opened his eyes. Red eyes. They were unmistakable - a bit of an unusual color for humans - and last night he had seen the same incredulous look in a pair of red eyes; they were softer and younger than the ones in his memory, but the color was undeniable. In addition, the boy had had the same red and black hair. It could not have been merely a coincidence.

_'That boy...'_ He thought. He'd definitely felt something when their eyes met. It was like an internal tug on an invisible thread connecting the two of them, willing him to go closer. He'd had an urge to speak to the boy, to tell him who he was, and to trust him with that information. The feeling had surprised him so much that he'd immediately fled, but even then he could not get the strange feeling out of his head.

The fact that for a moment, Astral had actually wanted to talk about himself with someone else bewildered him. He was well aware that his presence in this world was known by several humans; each one of them was a member of his competition, and their biggest weapon took the form of one extremely skilled and intelligent human - one who could use the Numbers at his own will and was for that reason, extremely dangerous.

"Kaito." he whispered. Although he had no doubt others hunted for the Numbers, Kaito was the only one he had encountered who was aware of his existence. That alone was enough of a problem, but Kaito also had a machine he used to stop time – if he used that, Astral would have a very difficult time avoiding him. Though he knew Kaito would not use it so recklessly – every move the other made was well calculated and thought out thoroughly. But, he was always weary of that boy…Astral sighed.

He turned his attention to the view from his perch. Beyond the construction site, he could see the peaks of the many buildings in Heartland. The Heartland tower stood tallest of all, enclosed by a large grey wall – Astral had been beyond it many times, and was amazed by the difference in scenery there. Everything had seemed more elegant, playful and decorated – yet at the same time, it almost felt like living in an illusion.

Astral couldn't really say that he liked it there – it was interesting for sightseeing, but his main focus was the Numbers users who were in there. He'd found many, and with each victory and absorbed Number he got a step closer to unraveling his memories completely.

As much as he longed to know his past, he could not allow himself to dwell on it for too long – it would unravel itself once he collected more Numbers. All he could do now was recover his strength so that he would be at the top of his game when he resumed the Numbers hunt.

And if that meant facing Kaito, then he would accept that fate; Astral would defeat Kaito…or he would die trying.

TBC


	3. Anticipation

Next chapter is up xP Here I'm introducing another character - the one and only Kamishiro Ryoga! I'm starting to think of more continuation ideas for this story, so I should be updating again fairly soon. Thank you to everyone who's reviewed/favorited/followed this story so far :D

I also have other stories ongoing, which I will be posting fairly soon ~

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><p><strong>Anticipation<strong>

At fourteen, Kamishiro Ryoga felt like he knew everything about anything. He stood tall and proud; his hair was purple and fell to halfway down his neck; it curled slightly near the ends. His eyes were a deep blue, somber and emotionless. He was famous for his participation in various prestigious dueling tournaments. For that, Ryoga, or Shark, his popular nickname due to his love of water attributed monsters, was admired by many from afar.

However, he also had a reputation for being a loner; a tough and cynical guy who barely spoke or showed much emotion at all; the guy who hung out with the wrong kind of crowds. He would drive his motor-wheel to darker alleys, hanging out at broken down and abandoned game shops with tougher and older guys. He was a bit of a mystery – closed off to the world around him. He was most alive when he dueled, calling attacks, pulling off spectacular combinations and destroying his opponents – often, he took their decks as part of his own personal anti-rule. Shark didn't seem to care as he did it.

But, deep down inside, Shark was as human as anyone else. He had suffered dearly; he dueled with a passion that had once been fuelled by pleasure, but was now tainted by the hatred and the pain from his past. Shark hid it well behind a mask of indifference, his often vicious words being used to conceal the pain he truly felt. He didn't feel joy in hurting others, but it was all he could do anymore – the happy people were annoying. Shark would never admit it, but he was in fact insanely jealous of anyone like that.

Speaking of annoying people who were always happy…there was one difference about today that Shark noticed immediately – the distinct lack of _kattobingu_ being sounded by one Tsukumo Yuuma. A year younger than Shark, Yuuma was not someone Shark knew well, but it was impossible not to notice him with the way he was always taking insane risks, yelling his silly catchphrase; being a general loud and obnoxious idiot. Everyone in the school had at least heard of Yuuma's antics – trying to jump twenty boxes in gym class every time, trying to swim across the whole pool underwater, nearly drowning himself every day in the process, and most of all, his insistence on becoming the best duelist in the world even though he had never actually won a single duel in his life.

Usually, Yuuma had an insane amount of energy and pep. Though today, Shark had seen Yuuma a few times in the hallways – he looked a bit distant, lost in thought. Yuuma had baggy eyes, he looked tired. Too distracted to focus, he'd almost tripped over his own feet several times, knocking shoulders with people as he made his way through the halls. Shark couldn't help but ponder for a moment over what could possibly be so draining to Yuuma's normally infinite drive and excitement.

Once the day's lessons were over, Shark was passing by the classroom when he happened to overhear the discussion between Yuuma and his two friends. Shark stopped nearby, pausing to listen. He was well aware of the entire situation with the comatose duelists, and unlike most other people, he knew what had caused it. It was those newly discovered and extremely powerful cards – the Numbers.

Shark had heard many rumors about a strange group of people called "Numbers Hunters". They were trouble – infamous for being seemingly invincible due to their Numbers collection, ruthless, and never leaving anyone to tell the tale of their meeting. Shark had darkly chuckled at that – then where would the rumors come from, if no one was left to share the experience?

And now Tsukumo Yuuma wanted to get involved in that? There was no way he could. Not only was he a mediocre duelist at best, but he was not the kind of person who would be normally attracted by the Numbers cards. They were powerful cards, giving the owners a rush that was supposedly unlike any other – Numbers users felt they could conquer the world. Shark knew this to be true – a few members of the gang he hung out with had Numbers cards. They had enough power to prick Shark's curiosity – he wanted to get himself a Numbers card, despite the so-called "risks" presented by the Numbers Hunters.

Tsukumo Yuuma, who had somehow found his energy again, bolted out the classroom door. He didn't even notice Shark as he ran past, followed closely by his friends, frantically trying to catch him and stop him from getting into trouble.

'_It must be exhausting to be friends with that guy…'_ Shark mused silently. He put his hands in his pockets, and continued on his way, putting Tsukumo Yuuma to the back of his mind once more – he had more important things to worry about. Like finding a duelist with a Numbers card – and beating him.

xxxxx

Yuuma ran through the hallways, dodging the stray student or teacher, heading straight for the main exit. Hot on his heels were Tetsuo and Kotori. He ignored their calls for him to stop.

The image of the strange duelist from the previous night was in his mind's eye. He needed to find that person again, and confront him or her about what they were doing. Maybe he'd be able to convince them not to use Duel Monsters as a means to hurt (or kill) people. It just wasn't right. _'I could even duel them…I'll do kattobingu for sure!'_ He thought in excitement, picking up his already quick pace.

If Yuuma dueled the mystery guy, he'd make a connection with them. He could never forget how he had made his connection with Tetsuo through duels. He'd challenged Tetsuo every day he saw him, asking over and over until Tetsuo would accept. They'd duel, and Yuuma would always lose. Tetsuo would often taunt him for his lack of skill and how his own moves were far superior, but no matter what Tetsuo ever said, Yuuma would get back up and ask for a rematch immediately. The cycle would repeat itself, and every time they dueled, Yuuma could feel their bond growing – it grew to the point where the pair became best friends. Maybe he could do the same for this mystery duelist? He'd teach that guy the true meaning of dueling, and he'd get to know more about them as a bonus.

He reached the main entrance, descending the stairs quickly and rushed down towards the road. Yuuma moved so quickly that he almost didn't see the incoming single wheeled maroon motorbike speeding towards him. Yuuma yelped, jumping aside just in time for the bike to pass him. The driver spun the bike, skidding to a halt to look back at Yuuma. Yuuma recognized the driver to be Kamishiro Ryoga – Shark.

"Ah…Shark! Sorry about that!" Yuuma said, looking the other boy in the eye and smiling awkwardly. Shark simply stared at Yuuma, not showing a single hint of emotion. The two locked gazes for what seemed like an eternity before a voice cut through the silence.

"Yuuma are you alright?" Kotori asked, running up behind him – Tetsuo wasn't far behind. Yuuma blinked, suddenly remembering what had just happened.

"Yeah I'm fine." He said, turning to his concerned friends, but quickly turned back to face the bike as he heard Shark rev up the engine. Yuuma watched Shark drive off, wondering what he was rushing off to. His thoughts were interrupted by Kotori grabbing his ear.

"Ow, ow, ow, Kotori it hurts, stop it!" Yuuma cried in pain, but Kotori didn't let him go.

"That's what you get for taking off like that! Don't be so reckless! Come on, we're going home." She proceeded to drag Yuuma off in the direction of his house, Tetsuo following and Yuuma continually complaining the whole way.

xxxxxxxxx

Miles away, in the Heartland tower, Kaito Tenjo lay on a stretcher in the medical ward. His shirt was off and IV tubes were injected on his chest and arms. A few feet away, Orbital 7 was punching frantically at the keypads on the computer nearby with its' many wired 'fingers'. Kaito lay still, allowing the various syringes of photons stream through his veins, giving him the energy he needed to continue his hunt.

And he definitely needed it now - Haruto had recently taken a turn for the worst. He was thinner, his already meager amount of energy depleting even further; and the most annoying part was that Mr. Heartland continued to dismiss all of these evident issues. Even his own father, , refused to step in. He left his two sons to Mr. Heartland while he hid himself in his laboratory and never spoke a word directly do either Kaito or Haruto.

Kaito disliked his father immensely. He didn't trust Heartland either – he merely cooperated with both because he understood that Haruto's life - and to a lesser extent, his own - were in their hands. Heartland would not let them go either - not until the Numbers were all gathered...and the Original eliminated.

A pair of mismatched eyes flashed through his head, making him tense almost in anticipation. If there was any duelist out there who could challenge him, it was Astral - the only duelist who had ever forced a draw out of him...it was far too close to annihilation for Kaito's comfort.

Of course, their entire meeting had been pre-determined by external forces - both were hunters seeking the same game. It was only a matter of time before the two top players met in a clash over each other's Numbers. And both had been proud - each having countless victories and not a single loss under their belts. It was part of their reputation to win.

Although Kaito knew the Original was a winner, it was one of the few traits about Astral on which he had been correct. He had pictured the emissary to be tough and cold; ruthless and above all things, inhuman. This was a being from another world after all.

But in that regard, Astral stunned him by displaying very human-like feelings. When he had first met Astral in an alleyway in Heartland City, he'd been dressed in black from head to toe - Astral had looked like just another human, though because Orbital 7's sensors had determined Astral to be more than what he appeared to be, Kaito had known immediately who Astral really was.

If he hadn't let off that blue-white glow as they dueled, or been discovered by Orbital 7, Kaito would have assumed Astral was human - he behaved like one too. Kaito had seen the fear flashing across his eyes when the tables turned, Kaito pushing against his own advances and almost cornering him. Kaito was sure this expression of shock and terror had been mirrored on his own face as Astral had forced himself out of the tough spot - he ended up pushing Kaito back so hard that Kaito had lost all hope of winning.

Thankfully, Kaito had managed to hold Astral's attack back enough to end the duel as a draw. In both duelists eyes, a draw was not a victory - there was no prize. Astral and Kaito had stayed in the alleyway, staring at each other, both exhausted from dueling as the AR space around dissolved. Kaito could not help but ask.

"Why do you hunt Numbers?" Somehow there was a part of him that needed to know. Astral had answered, to his surprise. The blue-glow seeped back into his body, signalling the end of the duel.

"They are my pieces of memory." Astral had said simply. Kaito had been surprised by the response. Mr. Heartland had told him the Original was an evil creature that was sent to destroy humanity, and yet Astral did not seem that type of being. Unless this was all a trick - Kaito had learnt during their duel that there was more to Astral than what met the eye.

"And why do you hunt Numbers?" Astral had then asked Kaito. He'd smirked.

"My reasons are my own...just know that you will never get them as long as I hunt." Kaito had replied, before ordering Orbital 7 to carry him off into the night sky. His photon level had been drained too far to challenge the Original again. Astral had let him go - perhaps he'd been tired as well. Kaito didn't know.

He closed his eyes as the machine began to wear down - he'd absorbed enough photon energy for now. He sat up, swinging his legs over the edge to face Orbital 7, who rushed up to him.

"Kaito-sama, you are working too hard! Perhaps we could take a night off from the hunt toni-" Orbital stopped when he was leveled with Kaito's glare.

"We are hunting tonight." Kaito said firmly, pulling on his shirt and standing. He could not afford another night off, no matter how tired he felt. Astral would not wait and neither would Haruto. And he absolutely could not let Astral beat him - Haruto's health depended on it.

"We're going." Kaito said, exiting the room as he spoke. "He can't hunt in the daytime without raising alarms – I will be taking advantage of this opportunity while it lasts."

"U-understood!" Orbital chirped, rolling as fast as it could behind Kaito as he walked down the hallways of Heartland Tower. Kaito walked with his head high, already predicting the number of opponents he would face and the Numbers he would collect. He had no time to waste. Astral would not wait for him. He had to beat the Original at his own game before he was beaten himself. Next time the two faced each other, Kaito would be strong enough to beat him and get rid of his biggest competition.

Kaito turned at a doorway that led out to a balcony, and continued to walk straight to the railing. He paused at the railing, staring down at Heartland City. Orbital 7 halted next to him.

"Orbital." Kaito ordered – he didn't need to say anything further. The robot activated its scanning mechanisms, allowing Kaito to identify a Numbers holder's current location – he could hunt the nearest ones to him first. Orbital opened its chest plate, revealing a computer screen resembling a sonar system used on submarines and aircraft. A small door on top of its head opened, and a small satalite dish emerged; the dish began to rotate slowly, transmitting a signal received from the Numbers cards. Looking at the computer screen, Kaito was pleased to note three figures appearing in range of their current position – that meant there were three Numbers holders within the 100km radius that the scanner could detect.

"Target acquired." Kaito said, noting the closest one and memorizing its coordinates. "Orbital, we're going."

Without another word, Kaito climbed up on top of the banister, standing tall and calm. He paused, staring off into the sky blankly. The sun was still up, and would be for at least another few hours. Kaito had to take advantage of the daylight while it lasted. Without further ado, Kaito jumped off the rails, plunging headfirst towards the city below. He fell for several seconds before he felt Orbital 7 latch onto his back, stopping his fall abruptly, and sweeping him off to the sky. Kaito glanced over the world below, like a falcon searching for its prey as he headed towards whatever unfortunate Numbers holder whose cards he would be taking that evening.

Kaito spotted his target below – it wasn't hard to recognize Numbers holders. They were all typically tougher looking people – they all had a similar gleam in their eyes, almost as if they were on drugs. However, the purple aura emitting from their body along with the often visible purple Numbers mark on their skin was unmistakable. The Numbers holder was crossing the somewhat busy streets of Heartland City. Kaito narrowed his eyes as he took note of the bystanders – he'd have to stop time earlier and to make his entrance as unnoticed as possible.

Without a second thought, Kaito swooped downwards, heading directly for the intersection his target was approaching. Once he reached an acceptable height, Orbital dropped Kaito, and activated its stop time mechanism. This was a very handy tool that created a field in which only Numbers holders could be animate, allowing Kaito to swiftly hunt and retrieve Numbers cards unnoticed. To the general public, a mere second had passed. As Kaito fell, he twisted his body into a full front flip, landing in a crouch in the center of the now frozen intersection, on the roof of a small car. The man was startled by his appearance.

"Who are you? What's going on!" He demanded of Kaito. Kaito stood up, dropping down gracefully from the car to face him.

"I'm here for your Numbers card – duel me for it." Kaito said simply in reply. The man looked around, cocking an eyebrow.

"This is interesting…and since you know about Numbers…does that mean you have them too? Alright then, I'll duel you!" He cackled, his eyes glowing purple. Kaito smiled, initating his photon change into duel mode as his opponent prepared his own duel disk and D-gazer.

"Let me hunt your Numbers….and your soul!" Kaito said, facing his opponent as the AR field initiated. This duel would hopefully be quick – he had a long night of hunting ahead of him, and could not afford to waste too much energy on such mediocre opponents.

As he prepared for the duel, he kept his mind focused on his goals. Once there had only been one – Haruto. He wanted to see his little brother healthy and normal again, and he would do anything to make it happen. But now, it seemed that a certain unexpected visitor was getting in his way…Kaito's other goal was to defeat Astral. He knew he'd never get all the Numbers as long as Astral was there to hunt them as well…and so Astral had to be eliminated from the competition for good.

'_Haruto…wait for me. I will make you better. Just hold on…just for a little while longer…'_

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

On the way home, Yuuma had stopped struggling as his adrenaline seemed to slowly disappear. The second his friends dropped him off, he had immediately gone upstairs, telling his Grandmother quickly that he'd be working on school stuff, and had ended up crashing onto his bed and having a nap in his proper bedroom, which was underneath the attic where he slept most nights. He'd been surprised when he woke up suddenly, to a night sky with the sun's last rays gleaming in the distance.

"Wow…did I really sleep that long?" Yuuma had muttered, sitting up and rubbing his eyes. He had to admit that he felt much better now. He got up, changed out of his school uniform and into his casual clothes – his white pants with orange lightning bolts near the cuffs, his purple and green t-shirt and red vest. He clipped his belt around his waist and attached his extra deck case to it; the Ou's Key around his neck was the finishing touch.

Yuuma climbed up the steps to the attic – he needed to look over his deck and didn't want his sister catching him doing so. He sat by the chest that was underneath his hammock next to the window, and stared at the picture of his parents' photograph. He missed them both dearly, but as long as he kept the Ou's Key and his father's deck, they'd always be with him.

Yuuma was sure his dad would've supported him dueling. After all, his dad had been the first to not laugh at his dreams, and had taught him how to strive by believing in _kattobingu_. Yuuma admired his dad more than anyone else, and wanted to be strong like he had been. Yuuma would be the Duel Champion, and he'd make his father proud.

But Yuuma knew that the world of dueling was suffering to a certain degree as the images of the comatose duelists flashed through his mind. He wasn't sure who had caused this strange event, but he couldn't help the feeling that the strange masked duelist he'd encountered the previous night had something to do with it.

Yuuma opened his deck case, laying out the cards before him, and sorting them almost at random on the chest. He eyed each card for a moment before laying it down carefully. Duel monsters really meant a lot to him – he'd met all of his friends through dueling. No matter how much Akari told him to stay away from it, Yuuma could not abandon the game. It was a part of him, and always would be.

Yuuma had been so absorbed in the cards that he failed to hear the approaching footsteps climbing the stairs to the attic. Akari poked her head up, seeing her little brother sitting at the small chest sorting duel monsters cards.

"Yuuma! How many times do I have to tell you not to duel!" Akari said angrily. Yuuma spun around, nearly dropping his cards in the process.

"Nee-chan! I'm…I'm not dueling! I'm just…looking at them, that's all!" Yuuma stammered. Akari narrowed her eyes.

"You'd better not duel with them Yuuma. I just wanted to let you know that you'll be alone for awhile this evening. Ba-chan is out, and I'll be going to a meeting with my boss. I should be back late – and you'd better be asleep when I get home!" Akari warned. Yuuma gulped.

"You got it, nee-chan!" He replied anxiously. Akari nodded.

"Good night Yuuma! See you in the morning!" She called, climbing back downstairs. Yuuma waited until he could no longer hear her footsteps in his room below before relaxing. That had been way too close…suddenly Yuuma perked up.

He'd be alone for a while tonight…so he could sneak out and duel once Akari was gone! And as long as he got home before she did, he wouldn't get caught! Yuuma grinned widely in anticipation. He could find the mystery duelist, and challenge him, and hopefully get some answers!

Excited, Yuuma returned to his deck, but this time, he was organizing it to prepare for a duel. This would be an important one for sure. He wanted to bring his best game for sure.

"I'll definitely do _kattobingu!_" Yuuma cried, punching the air before returning his attention to his deck.

* * *

><p>TBC<p> 


	4. The Dangers of Nighttime Dueling

Hello everyone! I'm here with another chapter for you guys x3

I must say, I was surprised by the number of reviews and follows I got after the last chapter o.o I'm so glad people like my writing so much x3 I hope I can continue to impress everyone in the future :D

This chapter features a bit of an exploration on how to hunt Numbers. There's the traditional method employed by the show itself - two Numbers holders duel, and the winner takes the loser's Numbers cards. But, if Numbers holders are older, tougher, non-law abiding gang members...the traditional method may not be employed. And that method would probably work...unless you face the Numbers Original (as shown in the chapter) or Kaito, who can steal your soul for trying such a cheap trick.

And as for why Yuuma can move when he shouldn't be able to...that will be explained in due time.

Hope you enjoy this!

* * *

><p><strong>The Dangers of Night-time Dueling<strong>

As the sun continued to set over Heartland, most of its inhabitants were at home, enjoying some quiet and relaxing time with their families before going to sleep for the night. Some were going out to later evening events – dinners, meetings, movies, or other social events. Others, the later night workers, were closing up their offices and shops, preparing to return home.

In a certain construction zone, the last employees were filing out, after stopping by briefly to insure that the machinery had been properly turned off and stowed for the evening. They were completely unaware of a figure that was lurking in the rafters above, dressed once again in black clothing from head to toe, watching them intently with mismatched eyes.

Astral was ready to hunt again. Now that it was dark, he could camouflage with the night and pose as an ordinary human duelist. He found that the streets of Heartland at night were filled with folk with darker hearts, preying on Numbers. All he had to do was look around a little bit, and he'd find someone who had what he wanted.

He double checked his duel disk, now firmly attached to his left arm and offline for the time being. His deck was already loaded in the slot, all the Numbers stored within it. Astral knew there were opponents out there that had multiple Numbers, meaning that just having one might not be enough for him to defeat them.

He hoped he would encounter a few of these people tonight - the more Numbers he got per duel, the better it was for him. As the last man left the construction site, Astral was about to fly off when a sudden pulse of energy stopped him.

"This is…" He whispered, staring up at the sky. The clouds were no longer moving, the few birds above him frozen in flight - Astral felt a chill run up his spine. He had seen this before - it meant that Kaito was out hunting that evening. This meant there was a possibility to meet him again tonight.

Astral had not been afraid of Kaito when he first met him – he had been expecting him, and knew that if he defeated him, Astral would gain all the Numbers the other had hunted thus far. He'd been weary, able to sense that this duelist was more than just an ordinary opponent, but Astral was not the type to run away from a fight.

During the duel, he'd learnt many things about Kaito. Unlike every other Numbers hunter he'd ever encountered – there had been a few weaker ones that he'd defeated in the past – Kaito did not use the Numbers as his ace monster. Instead, he used an extremely powerful and rare monster that Astral had never seen before – Galaxy Eyes Photon Dragon. It had 3000 attack points, and incredible abilities that made it almost invincible. Astral had been blown away by its appearance, and he had been hard pressed to survive against the Numbers hunter – he'd barely managed to make a comeback and pull a draw on the duel.

Afterwards, he'd told Kaito about his reason for hunting Numbers. He'd been a bit surprised that the boy had asked him, but had also felt a bit obliged to answer. Perhaps it had been a way of saying 'congratulations for beating me'. Since Astral had not gained a single Numbers card from the exhausting duel, he could not count the result as a victory – it was more like survival. Astral had gone off on a long flight after Kaito had left him, reflecting on his newfound feelings, unsure of what they were and why he had them.

Never before had Astral felt so…vulnerable before. He was used to winning – he always won in every duel he had ever participated in. And because Astral always won, he never had to fear his fate if he lost. But Kaito had beaten him, and he had almost disappeared. Kaito had the ability to end him, and the thought was absolutely terrifying to him. It had taken awhile for him to learn to suppress this feeling – dueling helped distract him, so he'd thrown himself into the hunt almost fully.

And now was a good time to hunt. Kaito had a robot assistant named Orbital 7 that could stop time all across Heartland, leaving only those with Numbers cards able to move. This was advantageous for Astral - he could easily pick out Numbers holders now. Despite the possibility of running into Kaito, he leapt off the pillars, taking to the sky to begin the chase.

Astral ducked into the clouds, trying to keep himself as out of sight as possible to those who might look up from below. As he flew, his senses were on high alert. Astral had excellent hearing and eyesight and was able to see and hear those below quite clearly, even though he was at least 20 000ft above the city. If he happened to spot Kaito, he could easily avoid him and hunt in another area, hoping that the boy would not follow him.

Suddenly, as he flew over a nice looking housing area, he spotted movement that caught his attention. There was a boy running down the street, a red duel disk on his arm – he was completely alone, Astral's ideal target. He was about to swoop down, when suddenly he realized that he had seen this boy once before. It was the same one from last night – the one who'd seen him and chased him.

Astral was surprised to see the boy moving – he didn't have Numbers. Astral had not sensed any on him the previous evening, and still could not now…but this boy did have a strange aura that seemed to surround him. There was something glowing a golden yellow color by his chest. What was that small thing? Why was it glowing, and why did the power seem familiar? Astral wanted to shake this off, turn in another direction and go find someone who had Numbers, but instead he found himself following the boy's trail in the air. Astral was drawn to this boy and the strange powers he seemed to emit – he wanted to find out what was so special about him.

Xxxxxxxx

Time stopped the second Yuuma exited from his bedroom window and dropped as quietly as he could into the front yard. His deck was in its case, ready for use when he needed it, and his duel disk was strapped on his arm firmly. He had no idea about the Numbers hunt, nor did he realize that he was moving in a world that was completely still. The Ou's Key around his neck was glowing slightly, which caught his attention.

"Huh? Why's it doing that? This has never happened before..." Yuuma mused, holding the Key closer to his face to examine it. Sure it would glitter every once in a while when the sun's light hit it at a certain angle, but it was now emitting a fairly steady golden glow. He wondered why, but decided he could figure that out later - right now he had to find the mystery duelist!

Yuuma took off into a sprint down the front stairs and onto the sidewalk, running parallel to the street, leaving his house in the distance. He rounded the corner, heading deeper into the city towards Heartland's giant walls - Yuuma had been nearer to there when he'd seen the duelist last night, so maybe he'd catch him there again tonight. He had no idea that the mystery duelist was following him from above – he never even thought to look up.

Instead, Yuuma kept his focus straight ahead as he exited the residential areas and approached the same alleyways he had come across last night. He was excited to duel, and was completely oblivious to most other things around him. He didn't even see the four burly men lurking in the shadows watching him, with wide smirks on their faces, strange purple auras emitting from their bodies. The tallest, the alleged leader of the group, gave a quick nod to the rest of the gang and they dispersed, two of them ducking back through the alleyways while the remaining two took off after Yuuma.

The men jumped out just as Yuuma rounded the corner, blocking his path. Yuuma skidded to a halt to avoid hitting them, startled by their appearance.

"Sorry! Can I just get by you –" He started, but the two men gave him glares, their eyes glowing purple as they looked at Yuuma hungrily. Yuuma felt a bit intimidated. Why were these guys blocking his path?

"Hey…what's going on…" He started to back away, turning on his heel only to be confronted by the other two men, both with the same look in their eyes.

"Going somewhere, kid? I don't think so. Not until you hand over your Numbers card." The leader said in a wicked tone. Yuuma was confused, stuck between the four guys. All of them were older and bigger – they would have no trouble beating him up.

"What? I don't know what you're talking about!" Yuuma exclaimed honestly, backing away. He had never heard of a Numbers card before. The men glared at him.

"Don't lie to me you brat! It's Numbers time and only Numbers holders can move! Since you're not a statue then that means…you have Numbers." The leader said greedily, taking a step forward and holding out his hand.

"Now…be a good boy and hand them over – then we'll let you go." Yuuma began to take a step back, when a figure dressed in black from head to toe, wearing a blue duel disk on his arm, dropped down from the rooftops, landing soundlessly behind Yuuma. In one smooth motion, he snatched Yuuma's deck case, pulling it off the boy's belt and leapt over top of the two men who were blocking the pathway into the alley, landing fully upright on the other side by the time Yuuma had finished his step.

"It seems I have the Numbers now." The voice spoke simply, holding the deck case in his hand so that everyone could see it. Yuuma and the men spun around, Yuuma's hand flew to his belt in shock. He hadn't even felt the guy take it! How did the mystery duelist get here?

"You – hey! My deck! Give it back!" Yuuma cried, about to charge when suddenly he was shoved roughly aside by the leader who was yelling at his men to get the deck case. Yuuma hit the wall of the alley hard, his head smashing the bricks, before crashing to the ground. The last thing he saw before blacking out was the mystery duelist, still holding his red deck case, running away from the four guys who were now chasing him deeper into the alley.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxx

As he ran, Astral was not at all panicked, even though he had four bigger, stronger and tougher humans chasing him – all of whom had Numbers cards. The only thing he felt was a bit of guilt – he had stolen the boy's deck case as bait, even though he knew there were no Numbers cards in it. It was necessary though – he needed to lure the men away from the boy, so he could deal with them without getting the boy too involved. Astral made a silent promise to return the deck once he had dealt with these men.

These men disgusted him. They were a disgrace to duelists. If they had wanted the boy's Numbers cards, they should have challenged him to a proper duel, giving him a chance to fight back. Even if the odds of defeating an opponent four on one were slim, at least he would've gotten a chance to defend himself better. Astral had intervened in order to hunt their Numbers, and to teach them a lesson they would hopefully never forget. He had a plan, and it was time to execute it.

Astral rounded a corner that he knew led to a dead end – it was the only way to trap the men. He could hear the thugs jeering him for making such a 'silly mistake'. Astral wanted to shake his head at their foolishness – he did not ever make mistakes. Everything he did was planned and executed flawlessly – this little duel session would be no exception.

Astral approached the brick walls, stopping in front of it as he heard the footsteps of the men behind him slow to a halt as well. Some of them were chuckling.

"End of the line, punk! Now give us the deck case!" One of them shouted.

"And your own Numbers as well!" The leader added. Astral did not turn around. He was not at all intimidated by these threats. There was no way he would give these men the deck case, or his own Numbers cards. Instead he jumped, flipping smoothly over them - he was floating just enough to make it seem like he was a high jumping human – and landed behind the men. As they began to turn, he focused his powers into his unoccupied hand, raising it to point his palm at the men firmly and releasing his energy. The men cried out as an invisible force slammed them against the wall and held them there.

"You think that this is how you hunt Numbers? You steal them without even challenging your opponents to duels; you dishonor them by beating them physically and forcing them to give up their cards? You poor scared creatures…you all disgust me." Astral said, glaring at the men, who were now looking at him in terror. Two of them had fallen unconscious – perhaps he'd been a bit too hard on them. Then again, facing two at once was better than facing four. He dropped his hand, and the men collapsed to the ground.

"Now…if you want my Numbers, I will gladly give them to you…providing you are able to defeat me in a duel. Come! Stand and fight me now!" Astral called. The two conscious men stood up.

"You…you're the one who got our guy!" One growled – they had a fifth Numbers holder in their gang, who had told them his Numbers had been taken by a strange black clothed duelist who had strange powers. The gang had laughed heartily at this story, but now these men knew that he'd been telling the truth – this guy had done it.

"You won't get away with this…we'll challenge you two on one! If we win, you'll give up the deck case and all your Numbers – that includes the one you took from our guy last night! No one messes with our crew and gets away with it bastard!" The second yelled, getting up in rage. Astral nodded.

"I will accept that, on the condition that if I win, I will take all of your Numbers. Since I am betting this deck case as well, you will also be betting the Numbers of your fallen comrades there." Astral motioned to the two men who were unconscious. The men glared at him.

"Deal! Bring it on! We won't lose!" The three of them set their duel disks, and prepared to duel.

Xxxxxxxxxx

A few minutes later, Yuuma opened his eyes. He was still lying on the ground, blinded by the darkness from the alley and for a moment he wondered why he was there. He blinked, letting his eyes adjust, sitting up slowly – his head hurt, but as far as he knew he was alright otherwise. Yuuma gave himself a quick pat down, feeling for anything that could be missing or broken from his fall – his hand touched the empty space on his belt where his deck case usually was located, and suddenly he remembered what had happened.

He still had trouble believing that the mystery duelist had just snatched his deck case like that. Was he really that mean? Did he kill duelists, and steal their decks? It made him angry, but at the same time, disappointed. A duelist shouldn't think that way…decks were the heart of a duelist. Years of collecting cards, then hours and hours of forming a deck – all the time and effort put into each deck made it the most important tool to a duelist. And to steal it made all that hard work go to waste.

This particular deck was full of Yuuma's father's cards. Yuuma had promised his dad before he vanished that he'd look after the deck and use it well…and now it was gone. He could not accept this. He needed to find that deck – it was one of his most prized possessions.

Yuuma was about to stand, his headache forgotten from his anger and frustration at losing his father's precious deck, when he suddenly had the feeling that he wasn't alone anymore. He couldn't really see anybody, but it was dark – these men had snuck up on him by hiding in the shadows after all.

"Who's there?" Yuuma demanded, still having a bit of trouble seeing. Suddenly a figure emerged. Yuuma recognized the figure to be the mystery duelist – blending almost completely with his surroundings due to his dark attire. He wore his blue duel disk on his right arm, in the offline position. The figure was walking right towards him. Yuuma was on his feet in a second.

"You…give me back my-" Yuuma began, stopping when the mystery duelist took ahold of his wrist, pulling Yuuma's hand palm up towards him and placing his deck case in his hand.

"My…deck case…" Yuuma finished softly, staring at his hand in disbelief. The mystery duelist had given it back to him. Just like that.

"I apologize for taking it…but it was the only way to deal with them." The mystery duelist spoke to him, sounding completely sincere. Yuuma looked the mystery duelist in the eye – those mismatched eyes stared right back at him with a neutral expression. He released Yuuma's arm, letting the boy examine the case and its contents. Yuuma counted the cards, amazed to find every card there exactly as he'd left it.

"Thank you…" Yuuma began, smiling brightly as he looked up to face the duelist, only to see him walking away soundlessly, heading back into the alleyway. Yuuma stared after him, but made no attempt to follow him.

'_That guy…he's not so bad. It wasn't him who hurt those duelists. I know that now.'_ Yuuma thought, grinning to himself. He should probably head home – his sister would be back soon and he needed to get cleaned up and be in bed by that time. Yuuma turned and was about to exit the alley, when suddenly he heard a gunshot, then a cry of pain that came from behind him. Yuuma spun around in alarm.

"That sounded like that guy!" Yuuma gasped, taking off into the alleyway without a second thought.

Xxxxxxx

Astral walked away from the boy, a smile on his face that was hidden by the face mask he wore. He had seen the light in the boy's eyes at the sight of his returned deck case – Astral had definitely done the right thing by returning it to him. He had defeated the two thugs and taken all of their Numbers…though he had expended quite a bit of energy to do so. He'd need to rest for sure – four Numbers was enough for that evening.

Astral was about to take off in flight when he sensed someone's presence – a non-Numbers holder. He thought at first that maybe it was the boy – maybe he'd been followed. Astral turned around, but the face that was there to greet him, although it was familiar, was not the boy he'd seen earlier. It was the duelist he'd faced the previous evening – it seemed the energy field had been stopped, meaning everyone could move again. The man had a certain gleam in his eyes that was a bit intimidating.

"You…give me back my Numbers…you monster!" The man yelled, pulling something silver from his pocket. Astral was not sure what it was as he'd never seen anything like it before. The man held the strange almost L shaped object in his hand, the tube pointed straight at Astral.

"Give them back or I'll shoot you! I'll kill you! Give me back my Numbers card!" He screamed, fists shaking like an addict suffering withdrawal. Astral did not move.

"I cannot. I defeated you, and took your card. It is mine now." Astral stated calmly, still confused as to what a small handheld thing could possibly do that was supposed to intimidate him. The man screeched inhumanly, shaking uncontrollably, making his hands waver. He pulled back with his index finger and a loud sound pierced the air, which startled Astral.

Astral felt something hit him in the abdomen; an involuntary cry escaping his lips as he collapsed to the ground. He felt a sting rush up his right side, starting from where he'd been struck and rushing up to his shoulder. Astral sat up slowly and painfully, putting a hand over top of the pain site. His hand felt wet. Astral noted strange red fluids leaking from his body and onto his black gloves and shirt. Why did it hurt? Why did he feel a bit dizzy and instinctively fearful by watching himself…he could not remember a word for this? Was he…leaking? The man approached Astral as he sat on the ground in silent shock, pointing the strange object again.

"Give them back! Or I'll shoot you again!" He screamed. Astral looked up at the man, slight fear now in his eyes. He did not have the power to push the man away – his vision was blurring over as well. His head was spinning as he fought to keep himself focused. What had even happened…Astral did not understand at all.

A cry interrupted his thoughts, and suddenly Astral heard a loud bang. The man slumped, his eyes rolling back into his head as he dropped down beside Astral, unconscious. Astral was barely able to turn his head to see the same boy whose deck case he'd stolen earlier holding a strange circular silver object that he'd seen on top of garbage cans. The boy's eyes rested on Astral and he gasped.

"Oh my God! Are you alright? Oh no…you're bleeding? Did he shoot you? Oh crap…we need to get you patched up!" The boy exclaimed frantically, kneeling down next to Astral.

"I…" Astral tried to talk, but he felt too tired to speak, too tired to move. His eyelids were heavy, and he felt strangely numb. Why was the world starting to spin and blur? He wondered before his thoughts stopped, his body went limp and he slipped into unconsciousness.

TBC


End file.
